Thomas Johnston | |
---|---|
Born | 1708 |
Died | May 8, 1767 | (aged 58–59)
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Engraver |
Known for | organ building, engraving |
Notable work | first American engraved historical print, of the Battle of Lake George |
American in Colonial Boston. Johnston the Colonial America was also manufacturer of church organs in the colonies. The pipe he built in 1758-1759 Boston's Old North Church in use until another organ replaced it in 1886.
Life and businesses
editJohnston was born in 1708 in Boston, Massachusetts.[1] He was a member of the Brattle Street Church since June 5, 1726.[2]
Johnston's workshop was in his home's backyard.[3] While he advertised his businesses as being organ making, engraving, and furniture merchant,[4] he also worked as a japanner, painted coats of arms, and published books.[5] He was an engraver of skill, and a heraldic painter.[2] The paintings and engravings he sold in his store included views of Boston and heraldic works.[6] Furniture designs included rendering raised and embossed images into clocks and other furniture.[2]
References
edit- ^ Stauffer 1907, p. 144.
- ^ a b c Dunlap 1918, pp. 311–312.
- ^ Williams 1915, p. 177.
- ^ "Japanned Furniture: An 18th Century Faux Finish". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. May 7, 1998. p. 48 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Hitchings 1973, p. 83.
- ^ "Boston Folks' Coat of Arms". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 7, 1915 – via Newspapers.com .
Sources
edit- Babcock, Mary Kent Davey (1947). Christ Church, Boston. T. Todd.
- Beers, J. H. (January 1, 1905). Record of New London County, Connecticut. J.H. Beers & Company.
- Ciment, James (September 17, 2016). Encyclopedia of Colonial America. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-47416-6.
Thomas Johnston produces the first engraving of a historical event ever produced in America.
- Dunlap, William (1918). Arts of Design in the U.S., Volume 3. C.E. Goodspeed & Company.
- Exhibition Catalogs (1908). Exhibition Catalogs, 1886–1909: 1908–1909. Exhibition Catalogs.
- Green, Samuel A. (1890). Blodget's plan of the battle on the shores of Lake George, 8 September, 1755. Cambridge University Press.
- Hitchings, Sinclair (1973). "Thomas Johnston". Boston Prints and Printmasters 1670–1775. University Press of Virginia.
- Library of Congress (1975). American printmaking before 1876 : fact, fiction, and fantasy : papers presented at a symposium held at the Library of Congress, June 12 and 13, 1972. Library of Congress. pp. 59–60.
Moreover, as in the case of other prints, Blodget's work, which came complete with a five-page quarto pamphlet
- Massachusetts Historical Society (1957). Massachusetts Historical Society. The Society.
The large engraved plan of the battle by Johnston has been called 'the first historical print engraved in America.'
- New-York Historical Society, Library (1969). New-York Historical Society. New York Historical Society.
This is the first historical print engraved in America. Blodget witnessed the battle and immediately afterwards drew the original plan from which Thomas Johnson made the line engraving.
- NYPL (1964). New York Public Library bulletin. New York Public Library.
A-Prospective-Plan-of-the-Battle-fought-near-Lake-George-on-the-8th-of-September-1755. This plan, part map and part view, was engraved by Thomas Johnston and has the distinction of being the first historical print engraved in this country.
- New York State (1966). The Conservationist. N.Y.S. Environmental Department.
- Ogasapian, John (2007). Church Music in America, 1620–2000. Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-88146-026-1.
- Owen, Barbara (1979). The organ in New England: an account of its use and manufacture to the end of the nineteenth century. Sunbury Press. ISBN 978-0-915548-08-8.
- Ramsey, L. G. G. (June 1975). Complete color encyclopedia. Hawthorne Books. ISBN 978-0-8015-1538-5.
- Readex Books (1964). Bulletin of Research in the Humanities. Readex Books.
- Stauffer, David McNeely (1907). Biographical sketches. Grolier club of New York City.
- The Society (1918). Colonial Society of Massachusetts. The Society. p. 406.
Thomas Johnston (1708–1767) three of Johnston's children followed their father's profession.
- Williams, Cornelia Bartow (1915). Ancestry of Lawrence Williams. R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. p. 177.
- Winsor, Justin (1887). Critical History of America. Houghton, Mifflin.